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The opposition and we'ns would Herefore need to
consulted. But Before sounding them
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projection to what is proponed, but also thought the H.O. shobe
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6.
It might therefore be possible to achieve the
return of Mr Godber by legislative action assuming
and stay outside of course he does not leave the UK/before the law
is changed. Mr T Pendry MP and Mr J Cunningham MP
said in Hong Kong recently that they would be
prepared to support legislative action. We do not
know whether this is a representative opinion of
back-bench, or Opposition, MPs, and in a submission
af 29 August Mr Stuart recommended that Mr Royle
should consult the Whips and Mr Ivor Richard MP to
discover their views. Section 10 of the Prevention
of Bribery Ordinance creates an anomalous offence,
which the Law Officers would find difficult to
justify and HMG could be criticized for making such
an offence extraditable. In view of this we should
only contemplate changing the law if there was broad
support from all parties in Parliament.
Even an
Order in Council would require an affirmative resol-
ution by both Houses
7.
h
If the law is changed Hong Kong would have to
accept that there might well be cases in which the UK
authorities would not feel able to authorise
extradition for an offence unknown to UK law.
disa lluma Carith a view to
And we
would also be bound to look at new legislation/with
an even more critical eye if it involved the
possibility of extradition.
Hong Kong might well
find that this increased surveillance outweighed the
advantages of extradition.
8. This is the first occasion on which the double-
criminality rule has given rise to any difficulty,
(17259) Dd.897459 250m 12/72 OWB Ltd Gp.863 (16941) Dd.897300 250m 9/72 G.W.B.Ltd.
Gp.863
· 3 -
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